Taylor's Boot Install

[Taylor325i]

I finally decided to spend some time on tidying up my amp and my sub in my boot. Ever since seeing pics in a thread that Ian Haynes was doing on a superb build in his 332is I've wanted to do something similar but I was always prioritising other things. So I bought all the materials that I would need and did most of it last month when I had a week off work.

This is how it looked before I started






I used 12mm MDF for everything and all the joints were glued and screwed together.

Amp enclosure built


Sub box built plus a lid for the enclosure


New battery box cover




Everything all built up ready for some accoustic carpet




A wee tidy up around the ski hatch




I made 2 new panels for the rear of the back seats to replace the panel that I butchered to fit my sub in it's original position




Amp in and all hooked up






All finished and a huge improvement










I was surprised by the difference in sound inside the car. I knew it would sound better than the old layout but I wasn't expecting a huge improvement but the bass sound is 100% better than before. I'm a happy chappy.


Taylor.



P.S. Thanks to Ian Haynes for the original idea on which my build is based on.

[FlappySocks]

Very nice

[aceraf]

Looks very smart and stealthy

Did you just cover the ski hatch on the car side with cloth or did you make a wooden panel to fit? (pics 9 +10)

[schuey]

Nice build,I miss having a decent stereo! Glad I looked at this now,I had always wondered where the towing eye was meant to go

[HairyScreech]

very nice bit of work

[rebelcruiser]

great job mate.

[fuzzy]

good job done there by the look of it

[ian332isport]

Ever since seeing pics in a thread that Ian Haynes was doing on a superb build in his 332is I've wanted to do something similar but I was always prioritising other things. So I bought all the materials that I would need and did most of it last month when I had a week off work.

Excellent work. Glad I inspired you to get chopping

[Taylor325i]

Cheers for comments guys!

Looks very smart and stealthy

Did you just cover the ski hatch on the car side with cloth or did you make a wooden panel to fit? (pics 9 +10)

I made a small blanking plate from MDF to go at the bottom of the ski hatch (behind where the arm rest is) and then it was covered over with carpet.

Excellent work. Glad I inspired you to get chopping

Cheers Ian and again Thanks for the cool idea



Taylor.

[Mahmood]

Fantastic bit of workmanship there.

[e30_singh]

that looks the dogs doowallies, i have also installed similar setups and i can see the workmanship in that install Kudos to you.

[Rkive]

That is a damn awesome set-up there man, well done .

[Nemo]

Excellent work there mate. Like said before, proper stealth. Do you do that sort of thing for a living? I bet wiring those speakers in the centre armrest was abit of a ball ache? I want to put a couple of cup holders in the centre arm rest

[padi]

That looks awesome mate, Ian's install made me redo mine as well, and i piched a few ideas, modified for my cab. Just a few qs though. Did you seal the hole in the sub bow for the wire to go through? Also when you put the sub in did you put any wadding in the box? I did this time and wow what a difference!!! How is your amp standing up as there doesnt seem to be much space above it for the air to move around, or mybe its just the angle. I know tthese have fans in as i have its bigger brother in mine. And finally, Ian have you any pics of your finished install? Ive been watchin the thread and re read it a few times, but would like to see it with sub/s fitted? oh and finally, how did you fix the sub box down?

[Taylor325i]

Thanks for all the good comments.

Excellent work there mate. Like said before, proper stealth. Do you do that sort of thing for a living? I bet wiring those speakers in the centre armrest was abit of a ball ache? I want to put a couple of cup holders in the centre arm rest

No mate I don't do this for a living (I'm an electrical supervisor). This was my first ever boot install. I'm quite good with my hands (so the missus tells me ) and will give anything a go. That and the fact that I'm a perfectionist - especially when it comes to my car. And yes the armrest speakers were a total ball ache - there's a fair bit of metal inside the armrest that had to be cut out.

That looks awesome mate, Ian's install made me redo mine as well, and i piched a few ideas, modified for my cab. Just a few qs though. Did you seal the hole in the sub bow for the wire to go through? Also when you put the sub in did you put any wadding in the box? I did this time and wow what a difference!!! How is your amp standing up as there doesnt seem to be much space above it for the air to move around, or mybe its just the angle. I know tthese have fans in as i have its bigger brother in mine. And finally, Ian have you any pics of your finished install? Ive been watchin the thread and re read it a few times, but would like to see it with sub/s fitted? oh and finally, how did you fix the sub box down?

Yes mate the hole for the cable was sealed from inside.
Amp has been fine so far with no overheating issues at all.
No wadding inside the box - what is it and what does it do?


Cheers!



Taylor.

[padi]

the wadding i used in mine i got from a cheap fabric shop for doing cushions with i think. I know you can get it from ice shops. I believe it works by disturbing the sound waves in the box but i may be wrong. However what i do know is that it make a hell of a difference and is deffinately worth doing. I think i paid about 4quid for 3mtrs by 2, which did my twin 10"s and a friends 10" and left a little bit over. hth

[J_Mac]

Nice work, very tidy. x2 speakers in the arm rest, good idea

[Nemo]

Just noticed how well tidy your car is in the spare wheel well.

Couple more questions mate. Was your battery always located there or is it a second battery? Did you always have that ski hatch? I haven't got one in mine and it would be well handy for getting stuff out of the boot (or putting a sub in ) Whats with all those wires coming out of your rear......lights? Is that because of your replacement units? Finally, is that a 10'' sub? I've got a 12'' in mine and there's no way I could fit the amp under it.

Are your sub and amp rated at similar power levels? This is supposed to be a good way of getting decent sounds and prolonging the life of your kit, neither has to strain or not be used to their full potential.

[Taylor325i]

Just noticed how well tidy your car is in the spare wheel well.

Couple more questions mate. Was your battery always located there or is it a second battery? Did you always have that ski hatch? I haven't got one in mine and it would be well handy for getting stuff out of the boot (or putting a sub in ) Whats with all those wires coming out of your rear......lights? Is that because of your replacement units? Finally, is that a 10'' sub? I've got a 12'' in mine and there's no way I could fit the amp under it.

Are your sub and amp rated at similar power levels? This is supposed to be a good way of getting decent sounds and prolonging the life of your kit, neither has to strain or not be used to their full potential.

Yes batteries on all 325i saloons are located in the boot

There was a panel spot welded into the ski hatch - I just drilled out the spot welds to remove it

Wiring is for the replacement lights - gonna make a couple of enclosures to hide the wiring. I'm also thinking about re-covering all of the interior boot trims in the same cloth to match the install but I think that it will be another ball ache of a job

Sub is 10" and I think the amp is similarly rated to the sub - not too clued up about it - all I know is the guy at the shop where I bought them said that is the correct amp I need to power the sub


Cheers!



Taylor.